Third Time Around
by bridgetlynn
Summary: Years after high school Puck & Rachel are living two entirely different lives then they ever thought they would be. Due to a set of false accusations, their paths cross again and Puck finds himself trying to get back the place in her life he gave up at 17
1. Part One

**Disclaimer:** Glee is owned by Ryan Murphy, Ian Brennan, Brad Falchuk, 20th Century Fox Television and any production companies associated with said persons. This is written purely for entertainment and to alleviate my own immense boredom. I am gaining nothing financially from this. "Third Time Around" lyrics and music by Angie Aparo (and seriously sets the tone for this story).

**Prompt: **Rachel lives in a Brooklyn loft with her teenage daughter. The dad - maybe Finn - isn't involved. Puck enlisted in the military right after he graduated but now he's moving to New York. Somehow he runs into Rachel and they spark something up. - PuckRachel Drabble Meme by: acaudill0068

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><p><em>...This ain't no freeway<br>You pay for it someday - I guess  
>He came from Ohio<br>Another day another stain on your map of regret  
>No world can look like it did before<br>But this one comes pretty close to the swinging door_

_And you get no sleep and you're overdue  
>The faithful creep when they're leaving you<br>And you wonder why_

_One time's a shame  
>Two times and it looks like rain<br>And they say your luck is found  
>The Third Time Around...<em>

**- Third Time Around, Angie Aparo**

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><p>There were some days when he honestly wondered why he hadn't just applied to be a police officer somewhere, preferably somewhere quiet, when he had retired from the Corps six years earlier. Other days he couldn't imagine not being exactly where he was in his life. As he stared at the file on his desk in front of him, Noah Puckerman, Ph.D., wasn't entirely sure which type of day it was yet.<p>

At thirty-two years old, Puck had only been working with the family courts and New York City's Child Protective Services Regional Offices for one year. He had been hired immediately after he finished his Ph.D. in Clinical Forensic Psychology and had very quickly found himself swamped in an overworked government office system. And as much as he loved his job, not a day went by that he didn't a least partially question his choices.

After high school, he had planned on serving his eight years and retiring to a police force but somehow over that time period, serving as an MP (and realizing how lucky he was to only be transferred three times in eight years - two years a Camp Pendleton in California, four years in Afghanistan and his final two back in the US at Quantico) he had grown mentally exhausted of the idea of police work. Despite not knowing exactly what he wanted post-military he still decided on New York City for his destination (in case he changed his mind on the police work front - the NYPD struck him as his best bet - it had _nothing_ to do with a certain brunette who had drilled Manhattan as the be all and end all of life into his brain during high school). It took him less then a month in the city to decide to expand on the degree in Psychology he had earned while in the Corps (again, with the idea of police work in mind initially) and within the next five years he had completed his Master's and Ph.D in a dual program from John Jay College.

It finally took what his mother had told him growing up, "that everything happens for a reason" for him to really realize what he wanted to do with his life.

His father had abandoned his family, he had given a daughter up for adoption, he had seen some atrocities while in the military - even just working as an MP on security detail during the rebuilds in the Middle East (as much as he was glad that by the time he was overseas the combat situation had ended for the US; it didn't mean they didn't have years of clean up ahead of them) - and then seeing homeless or abused children around Manhattan once he arrived had made his decision easier then he expected. He was going to help kids.

Which is why he was slightly pale and more then a little bit shocked to be holding a case file for one Elyse Marie Hudson in his hands. If the last name hadn't shaken him enough (because what were the odds really?), her _mother's_ name certainly did.

Rachel Barbara Hudson.

Puck stopped believing in coincidences when he was a kid; now he just had to figure out why, of all people, Rachel would have had Child Protective Services called on her.

"And where the hell is Finn?" he asked the last question out loud as he scanned the file and realized that while the file listed Finn James Hudson as the child's father; his location was unknown.

He had a long morning of reading ahead of him before he had to meet the family and make his recommendations.

* * *

><p>Later that afternoon Puck walked into a small conference room and had to shake off the shock at seeing a thirteen year old version of Rachel glaring back at him. If he had any doubts before now, despite the sheets of information he had, they were gone. He nodded at the social worker as she stood up from the table and left the room, though Puck knew she'd only be standing on the other side of the two way glass observing for legalities sake, and he himself took a seat across from the teen.<p>

"Hi Elyse, my name's Doctor Puckerman, but you can call me Puck if you want," he introduced himself and left it at that; though he was slightly intrigued when she seemed to react to his nickname. "We'll start whenever you're ready."

He examined Elyse silently and let her stare back as long as she wanted. He understood kids like this and he was damn good at his job; he knew she'd start talking when she was ready. As he waited, he couldn't help but think that he was grateful Rachel's genes had apparently overridden Finn's because other then a slightly lighter shade of brown hair, the thirteen year old in front of him was all Rachel Berry right down to the nose he had talked her out of changing when they were sixteen.

It was with that thought that he had to push down an anger that he had felt swell up repeatedly all day. Rachel had a daughter and no one had told him. He was fairly certain this was something his mother should have given him a heads up on; probably while screaming at him that if he hadn't been a selfless idiot it could have been his child. Something she should have told him thirteen years ago when the kid was born so he was better prepared for this.

Perhaps, before the child wound up with him as one of her caseworkers.

He carefully ignored the unethical part of him even being involved in the case; he should have turned it over to a colleague immediately due to his past relationship with both of her parents. Except, he couldn't for the life of him, even this many years without any contact, imagine Rachel as an even slightly abusive or neglectful parent and he was terrified that another overworked (because God were they all overworked) councilor wouldn't see that. He just couldn't leave this to someone who didn't know Rachel. Especially, not when he knew his own mother's struggles as a single parent and the problems she had endured with various authority figures as a result. He was _not_ going to let his friend's child wind up lost in the system.

First he needed to figure out why she wound up here to begin with - other then what it said in the file.

"My mom's not a shitty parent you know," the girl finally snapped and Puck managed to keep the smile off his face because that had taken much less time then normal, but much longer then he expected Rachel's daughter to stay quiet. "She just works a lot and Mrs. Conlon's a bitch."

"Mrs. Conlon," he repeated, referring back to the file even though he had almost memorized it already. "She's your downstairs neighbor. She's the one who made the three reports this month?"

"Yea, she moved in last year and she said Mom's going to hell for having me and not being married."

"And this resulted in us being called in?" he questioned, ignoring the fact that Rachel had obviously been married, though her status was now listed as divorced. There were still more then a few holes that Puck needed filled in. Like, where the fuck Finn was, though that was _mostly_ personal curiosity.

Elyse shrugged and suddenly looked slightly guilty, pulling a tired sigh from Puck. He remembered being thirteen and having a mother scrapping every last penny together; now in his thirties he couldn't apologize enough for the hell he had put her through. It appears that history was going to repeat itself for his ex-girlfriend.

"Well, I _might_ have, done something last month to finally really make her snap."

"What'd you do Elyse? I promise you won't get in trouble...this time...but these kind of accusations are very bad for your mother. As it stands, our offices investigation hasn't turned up anything that shows you're in a bad environment or neglected; but three calls in a month meant we had to take things to this level. I don't want to remove you from your home, so you need to be straight with me."

He kept his memory of Rachel Berry in mind as he spoke with her daughter and prayed the girl got her mother's brains (but not her dramatics), rather then her father's, and realized that the only way this was going to go away is if she was completely truthful.

"I squeezed rubber cement into her mailbox."

Puck had to shake off the urge to high five the kid; because, that was pretty epic. Somehow he didn't think anyone would appreciate it. Even under the guise of forming a bond.

"Based on the complaints she lodged with our office, I'd say there's more to it then that," he baited her and flipped through a few more papers before something caught his eye that he had missed on his first few readings. Apparently, Elyse was home alone a lot at night; which was understandable to Puck with how much his own mother had worked; but didn't strike him as something Rachel would do.

"Can I promise never to do it again? Mom already grounded me." That comment had Puck snorting down his laughter as he pictured a full on Rachel Berry rant over finding out what her daughter had done. His amusement vanished a few seconds later however, when the girl spoke again in a much softer voice, "I don't want Mom to get in trouble."

"Why are you home alone so much Elyse?"

"I'm not! Not really anyway. Mrs. Conlon's a liar. My best friend lives in the apartment right next to us with her parents. Mrs. Ellison teaches at the elementary school a few blocks away during the day. She's always home within an hour of Katie getting back from school and I get there like a half hour after that; she watches us in the afternoons and evenings. The only time I'm really alone, in the most literal definition, is when I'm sleeping and that's not even every night. But when Mom works, Mrs. Ellison is right next door _and I'm thirteen_!"

Puck masked his amusement at the typical babble that could only be from the Berry side of her family and rubbed his forehead as he he racked his brain and tried to figure out how to make all of this go away; less so because Rachel was an old friend and more so because absolutely nothing anyone had looked into had turned up a real cause for concern. He understood, hell even the social worker had left notes stating that everything seemed taken care of (they understood single parents who had to work long hours and Rachel had done a lot more then some of the families they had in their files when it came to the care of her daughter). The truth was, they were far too busy trying to relocate children who were being beaten daily to really worry about a teenager who was well dressed, well fed, attending a very good school that her mother teaches at, clean and had the supervision of a woman who was a licensed teacher when her mother wasn't home.

"Alright, Elyse, this was pretty much a formality anyway because of the multiple reports we received. You've seen our doctor and nothing showed up in x-rays or tests. Your apartment has been examined and it's spotless and well stocked with healthy foods. Your grades are almost perfect and having spoken to you I can see that the only thing you need to work on is your attitude a tiny bit; trust me when I say that sweet and nice rather then being snappy will help things. Wait here, I need to go talk to your Mom and see if we can't clear up this whole mess. And can I suggest leaving Mrs. Conlon alone from now on? In fact, if at all possible avoid her completely. Because, I'm _pretty sure _you might have left a _few _things that you did to that woman out."

He smirked a bit when the teen winced and avoided his eyes before standing up. He smiled at the young teen and left the conference room exhaling harshly. Shaking his head quickly Puck turned to face the social worker and asked quickly, "The mother?"

"Next door."

"Thanks," he muttered and squared his shoulders before heading into the next door conference room to see a piece of his past he had never wanted to lose in the first place.

Before he made it out of the room the social worker spoke up again, "Doctor?"

"Yes?"

"You are going to close this out right? I saw the house, I've talked to the mother. We're way too busy to be dealing with a crotchety old woman who doesn't like teenagers and has a ridiculous idea of what is the "appropriate" way to raise a child."

Puck chuckled and nodded, "Going to go do that now. I'll get Mrs. Hudson calmed down and explain exactly how she can avoid this in the future."

"How'd you know she's hysterical?"

"Lucky guess?" he replied quickly before leaving the room.

He relaxed slightly now that he had confirmation that he was supposed to make this case go away; hell, he was pretty sure the only reason he had even been given it to begin with (due to the fact that he had only worked in the field for a year) was because everyone knew the entire thing was waste of time. So far he had only worked along with the more experienced psychologists on their more serious cases. His supervisor had probably decided to use this as a training experience.

"Some training experience," he muttered as he glanced into the other conference room and saw Rachel, still one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen, sipping a glass of water with dried tear tracks on her face and looking frantic.

* * *

><p>Rachel Hudson considered herself many things; a talented musician, an excellent teacher, a supportive friend, a loving daughter-in-law and before this week, a wonderful mother. Now, the only thing she could think was that she had apparently been wrong about that last part.<p>

The first visit she had received from New York State's Child Protective Services at the beginning of the month had seemed shockingly ridiculous (though inside it had terrified her) but she had obviously allowed them into her home, let them talk to her daughter, let them interview her neighbors, let them examine her life, let them do anything they needed in order to prove that the claims of the woman downstairs were utterly unfounded. She had felt vindicated when the social workers had completely agreed with her.

The second visit two weeks later had outwardly shaken her and she had suffered through an even closer examination. When this one had included a conversation with the principal at the private school in Manhattan that she taught at her nerves really felt frayed. Especially when her employer had told her privately that they couldn't afford such "scandals" among their teachers before letting her go. She still hadn't been able to find a way to tell Elyse that not only would money be tighter now; but she'd have to start going to public school locally for her last year of junior high. She was hoping that attending school with Katie would soften the blow. Even when the social workers once again, could not find anything wrong, she couldn't help but feel relieved - despite the fact that this time, they had more suspicious looks rather then bored like the first visit.

It was this _third_ visit, that included a trip down to their offices in Manhattan so that both she and Elyse could meet with a staff psychologist while the social workers poured over ever part of her history; apparently including calls to Burt, Carole, Kurt and her Fathers, that had finally caused her to lose what little control over her emotions she had retained. She _could not _lose her child; especially not when it all stemmed from a woman who had outdated ideas of how a child should be raised.

So Rachel forced herself to remain polite, to be helpful and provide all the necessary information that she was asked for, all the while trying to keep from breaking down completely from her fear and heartbreak. It wasn't until the social worker had left the room, giving her a comforting squeeze on the shoulder on the way out, that she let herself finally cry and let back in the anger at her ex-husband that she had pushed away years ago once she realized she would have to stand on her own two feet in order to support their daughter and give her the best life possible.

Honestly, it was the first time since Elyse was seven, when Rachel had managed to finish her masters in music education, and she had landed a full time job teaching that she had even really allowed herself to think of Finn and the life they were supposed to have. Because, make no mistake, Rachel _knew_ where the real blame for this situation lay; Mrs. Conlon might have made the calls for whatever insane reasons she had, but Finn Hudson walking out on his wife and child when Elyse was five years old had put them in this position to begin with. He was in the wrong; and the fact that _no one_, not even his family, had heard from him since told her he knew it too.

She heard the door opening and then quietly closing but couldn't bring herself to look up and face whomever was there to pass judgment on her abilities to parent. She knew based on what she had been told that this visit would be one of their staff psychologists. She wanted to feel her anger and she knew if she looked into one more sympathetic face she'd lose what little backbone she had at the moment; and if the face was accusatory she was afraid she'd react in such a way that she'd be guaranteed to lose Elyse. The only hope she really had was that if it came down to that, they'd send her to Lima to live with the Hummel's instead of some foster family in the city.

A chair across the table from her was pulled out and she saw out of the corner of her eye a body sit down in it quietly. She watched as a file was dropped on the table and flipped open. She heard the person sitting there exhale. And she almost fell out of her chair when she heard the person speak for the first time, "What the hell happened Rach?"

Rachel lifted her head to face him and stared back in shock; because, the very last person she expected to see today was Noah Puckerman. Except there he was, hair cropped short like when he had shaved his mohawk, comfortable but neat v-necked t-shirt and what looked like a pair of slacks and dress shoes. What stood out the most was his expression; he wasn't looking at her sympathetically or accusingly, instead he looked somewhere between angry and confused.

"Noah?"

"Yea," he agreed nodding. "Seriously Rachel, _what happened_? I need to know so I can make this all go away."

"They _can't_ take her away Noah. She's _all_ I have," Rachel insisted and froze when he held up a hand forestalling her.

"I already spoke to Elyse, I don't think she needs to be removed from your care. If anything, I'd like to find a way to call someone on your neighbor for wasting our already stretched thin time and energy, but I can't. So be straight with me Rachel. What's the deal? What's going on at home that this woman even thinks she has a pot to piss in? 'Cause according to her third report, you've been around even less since we started showing up. If anything, it_ should _be the opposite."

Rachel sighed and nodded before replying, "Believe me. I know that. I barely left Elyse's side after the first visit. It's summer vacation so I could do that. The second complaint caused the social workers to talk to people at the school I worked at. You've got it all the file there, it's a very high end exclusive private school. Needless to say, I _don't_ work there anymore. I had to pick up more hours at the bar my neighbors own and I'm waitressing at a local diner."

"Your Union didn't back you up?"

"They couldn't. I was accused of being a neglectful and abusive parent. Who the hell wants that teaching their kids?"

"Shit," she heard him hiss under his breath. "That wasn't in the file. Alright, so you're working two jobs now. Bartending and waitressing? What's the story behind those? But first, gimme a second," he told her, pulling his pen out and flipping to the appropriate page in the file to make more detailed notes. She watched him scribble a few things down on a page that she could see had her employment history on it.

Once he was finished writing he looked back up, nodding for her to begin, and Rachel couldn't help noticing how different he seemed and she knew it was more then just fourteen years of separation from the boy she had known in high school.

"Alright, well, the waitressing job was easy enough to turn into full time because I've worked on and off for them since we moved to Brooklyn. I worked there pretty much part time straight through college and since then I've picked up shifts in the summer just for some extra money. They put me back on full time when I asked last week. The bartending is usually just Friday and Saturday nights - and if you could please note that I don't even drink it would maybe be helpful - and on very few occasions I'll work a shift or two in the evenings during the week if they're busy. The bar is owned by Jack Ellison, my neighbor. His wife Karen watches Elyse when I'm working. Their daughter Katie is the same age as Elyse and they've been friends since they were born because we've lived next door to them for that long. I've never left Elyse really and truly alone for more then an hour or two and even then it wasn't until this past year and only in an emergency."

Puck was simply nodding and writing as she spoke, occasionally pausing and looking contemplative before adding more and finally stopping, looking up at her.

"And your husband?" he asked, clenching his fist tightly as he spoke.

"It's all there in the file," she whispered, sounding exhausted and really not wanting to recount it again to Puck of all people.

"I need to hear it Rachel," he replied, looking apologetic. "You've only talked to the social workers. My job is to, basically, and I _hate_ putting it this way, but it's the truth, psychoanalyze the whole situation. The quicker we do this, the quicker you and Elyse can get out of here and go home. Just bare bones it for me."

"Fine," she muttered and took a deep breath deciding to explain as though she didn't know the man in front of her at all. "I found out I was pregnant before graduation, told Finn after, we didn't tell anyone and moved to New York as planned. Got married at City Hall and I deferred school for a year to have the baby. Five years later I had finished my degree in Music, Finn was already teaching Gym at that point because he went full time while I was going part time. One day I got a call at work that Finn hadn't picked Elyse up at daycare and when we got home all his things were gone. I called my in-laws in Ohio and my brother in law in Manhattan and none of them had heard from him. Burt and Carole Hummel, my in-laws, have helped out where they could as has Kurt, my brother in law, but it's mostly been just me and Elyse since that day. I went back to school at NYU and completed my master's in music education and those two years were the most difficult we had. If the Ellison's hadn't been next door I'm honestly not sure what I would have done. The last few years have been tough, but I had a steady teaching job and was able to make sure Elyse went to a very good school as a result. That brings us to last year when that woman moved in and here we are."

Puck had stayed silent during her explanation and she had been surprised that the boy she used to be able to read so well had become a man with an incredible poker face. She watched as he skimmed the file as she talked, occasionally writing something down, but other then that she had no idea what he was thinking. It was silent for a few minutes after she talked and Rachel could admit she was getting nervous; fourteen years was a long time for someone to change and with that thought she realized, she did not know the man across the table from her and as much as she hoped he would take her side, she couldn't be certain.

"Okay," he finally spoke. "Here's what we're going to do. I'm going to make my recommendations that we put forward with closing this casefile as having no due cause. You'll receive a visit from a social worker in a month just to do a final check on the situation. I'm also going to recommend that someone goes and visits Mrs. Conlon to have a discussion with her; something they haven't done yet other then to take her statement. Which, in my opinion, just reads like a bored old woman with an archaic view on what a "family system" should be. It's going to be fine Rachel."

"Really?"

"I promise," he told her seriously. "You know I know what this is like. I'm not going to cause more problems for you."

"Thank you so much Noah," she whispered and finally felt her body relax. "Can we go?"

"Give me a few minutes to talk to Marcy, that's Elyse's social worker if you didn't know that already, and then I'll get Elyse for you. Just wait here, I'll walk you two out. Oh and Rachel?"

"Yes?"

"We don't know each other," he told her with an extremely serious expression on his face. "I shouldn't have been the one assigned this once I realized who you were."

"I understand," she agreed quickly, nodding. "Thank you Noah."

"You're welcome," he replied before heading out of the conference room.

* * *

><p>Puck leaned against the wall outside of the conference room he had left Rachel in and fought the urge to hit something for maybe the fifth time that day. Earlier that day when he had first read Elyse's file and gotten to Rachel's initial statement, from CPS's first visit, on the history of her marriage he had almost put his fist through his desk because he still couldn't believe that Finn, <em>of all people<em>, had abandoned his family. The person he had given Rachel up to for what was supposed to be her own good. The one person he_ trusted _would take care of her and honestly never do something like that; having grown up without a father himself and having seen what that exact same situation had done to Puck.

He flipped open the file again in his hands and re-read the notes he had made while speaking to Rachel himself; thankful that his position as psychologist let him be much blunter and observational then the social workers. He just wanted to double check that he had stayed clinical to the situation and hadn't added _anything_ he knew about Rachel's character from their childhood. Not only would it probably cause more problems, by forcing another psychologist to re-do everything he had just done, but he knew for a fact that fourteen years could completely change someone. He was living proof of that.

Re-reading her employment history, he pulled out his pen and made a few more notes; this time adding exactly what he thought about how the situation with the school Rachel had worked at had been handled. He could understand going that route if something had tipped their suspicions in the home; but if anything, this was just the work of someone who wanted to try and impress the higher ups and get assigned better cases. He had found this problem in the military and he found it here. He had decided a long time ago that something about working for any government agency makes even the smartest people incredibly dumb.

Once he was satisfied that he had covered all his bases and set the file up so it would be easily shelved he walked into the observation room to talk to Marcy Hanning. She was an older woman who should have probably retired years ago; but she had told him when he first started working for CPS that the "wet behind the ears rookies are going to screw up these kids more", so she stayed. Personally, he just thought she would go insane if she was home everyday.

"Hey Marcy," he greeted her as he walked in again, slightly more relaxed then when he had seen her a few minutes earlier. She was still studying Elyse through the glass. "Everything okay?"

"It's fine. I'm just aggravated over this whole waste of time. There are honest to God children in trouble out there and some old hag is basically trying to ruin an obviously loving mother's life."

"I agree completely," Puck stated, relieved. He knew Marcy had told him to close it out quickly, but she could always change her mind. He might be the psychologist but the social workers, especially one with as much experience as Marcy Hanning, ran the show.

"So what's your take on the mother?" she asked him bluntly.

"Tired and overworked but doing what she can to make sure her kid doesn't wind up either on the streets or as a delinquent. Did you know she got fired?"

"Excuse me?" Marcy questioned, ripping the file out of his hand and flipping through it. "Explain. Now."

"Whoever did the friends and neighbor interviews also went to the school she worked at during the second investigation. She was working at some upper east side private school and got canned as a result. Her union couldn't back her up because technically she was being investigated for a crime against children."

"Fuck," Marcy muttered. "It's not in here. They weren't supposed to go to the school."

"I added it. It was left out by whoever did those interviews."

"I think it was Jack Decker."

"Well, that explains it," Puck muttered, rolling his eyes. Decker had been out of school for about five minutes as far as Puck was concerned and was still working on his master's in social work. "This is what happens when we're stretched this thin Marcy."

"I know that Noah," she responded, sounding as pissed as he'd ever heard her when it didn't involve an injured child. "I'll see what I can do but it might not matter. Once that rumor is out there, it's out there. I'll talk to her about it during the visit next month."

"Yea; I know. Believe me. I know," he sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Marce?"

"Yes?"

"Can we just make this go away now please? I'm tired."

The older woman chuckled and nodded, "I'll close it out. You get that little girl back to her Mom and get them out of here. I'll also make sure I do the follow up myself next month and before that I'll have a chat with the busy body who caused this. I trust you Noah, you're damn good at what you do so I have no doubts that this is not going to bite us in the ass."

"It won't. I promise," he insisted and thought for a second before deciding to take a chance since he trusted Marcy more then most people. "I actually, sort of, knew Rachel years ago."

"Puckerman!"

"I haven't seen or heard from her since high school graduation," he quickly explained, holding his hands up in surrender. "And trust me, that woman loves her daughter and that isn't our past coloring things."

"How do you know that?"

"Because if she _didn't_ love her daughter she'd be headlining some Broadway show and collecting every type of award for acting and singing that she could. She completely changed her dreams just to support her child and having spoken with her yourself - you want to tell me she isn't happy with her life? She's exhausted and stressed, but she's happy."

"No, you're right," Marcy admitted. "That woman wouldn't have changed a thing."

"Except maybe my deadbeat ex-best friend walking out on her. But hey, that's just _my_ opinion," Puck muttered darkly and ignored the warning look he received from Marcy. "I'm gonna go get Elyse now."

"That's fine," Marcy replied distractedly as she made her own notes in the file and began filling out the closing paperwork. "Oh and Noah?"

"Yea?"

"If you're going to ask her out, please wait until next month. I really don't want anyone to even attempt to fire you."

Puck shook his head and responded, "Don't be ridiculous. She's just an old friend."

"Uh-huh," Marcy replied with a smirk. "I might not have a Ph.D. in how the brain works kiddo, but I've been doing this a long time. Just a friend my ass."

Puck rolled his eyes and opened the door to the conference room, poking his head in and calling, "Come on Elyse. Time to go."

"Where?"

"Well, first to your Mom, then out of here and then wherever she plans on taking you."

"I get to go home?"

"Of course, I told you that's what was going to happen," he reminded her as the small teen jumped out of her chair and hurried over to the door, following him out. "Say bye to Marcy. You'll see her next week for a short visit and then this whole mess is done."

"Bye Mrs. Hanning," Elyse replied politely, completely losing the attitude she had tossed at Puck earlier and leaving him snickering because that right there was_ absolutely _Rachel Berry's child.

He quickly led Elyse out of the observation room and to the room next door opening it quickly and calling in just as he had with her daughter, "Mrs. Hudson? You can go now."

He watched Rachel raise an eyebrow at what he had addressed her as and simply shrugged back, gesturing out to the hallway that had people moving about in it. She nodded in response and walked out, "Thank you again Doctor Puckerman."

"No problem. I'll show you out," he replied, gesturing for her to follow him. "Now, Marcy's going to stop by some time in the next month. She'll give you a call the night before so you're aware and know to be home. It's just a formality anyway. She's also going to make sure to speak with Mrs. Conlon about what is and what isn't her business and especially what is grounds for reporting someone to Child Protective Services."

"I can't thank you enough," Rachel responded, looking near tears again.

"Honestly Rachel," he told her quietly. "That part is less about you and more about the fact that we have too many kids in really honestly awful situations. Elyse is fine; she's well cared for and obviously loved. Our time needs to be spent on kids who aren't that lucky."

"I totally agree," Rachel nodded along with him. "I'm sorry that this wasted you and your co-workers valuable time," she added as the stepped out of the building and onto the busy Manhattan street.

"Hey," he said softly, grabbing her arm. "I wouldn't say it was a total waste of time. I got to see you again didn't I?"

When Rachel blushed he was transported back to January of senior year, during another Finchel break up, when he had laid his heart on the line and for one month actually got the girl. Only to lose her when they realized he had already enlisted in the Marines and Finn had been accepted to NYU. It had only taken two weeks for Finn and Rachel to get back together after Puck broke up with her; under the guise of letting her go for her own sake rather then making her wait around for someone who wouldn't be around for years. The last thing he had wanted was for her to give up her dreams for him.

He could still remember the words Finn had used to convince him that Rachel would be happier without him; because Finn could actually be there in New York supporting her, not trotting all over who knows where for eight years before he could settle down. He'd never heard another word from or about either of them due to the fact that he'd never gone back to Lima, instead flew his Mother and sister out to visit him on base when he could, and had been able to imagine that Finn had been right, that they _were_ happy. And as a result, he'd _never_ regretted that decision in high school until just now. He wondered how different all their lives would have been if he had held on and fought for her then.

"I have missed you Noah," she told him. "So much more then I could ever explain."

"Same here Berry," he teased lightly before adopting a serious expression. "I'd like to see you again. Maybe get more of the bare bones explanation and fill you in on what I've been up to?"

"That sounds wonderful," Rachel agreed, smiling brightly. "I'm so busy all the time that I only really have the Ellison's and Kurt here in the city for friends. Here's my number," she told him and quickly wrote down ten digits after digging through her purse for a piece of paper and a pen.

Puck accepted the paper and handed her his business card, jotting his cell down on the back, "The only catch is that I can't call you and vice versa until after Marcy fully closes the casefile. So next month once I know all the paper work's been put away and we won't have any problems I'll call you."

"Sounds good," Rachel agreed.

"Oh, and Marcy's going to see what she can do about the teaching thing. You might not be able to go back to the same school, but she said she'd talk to you next month about it. She was pretty livid when she heard how it was handled."

"So was I," Rachel muttered and didn't relax until Puck squeezed her hand. "Thank you again Noah."

"It's my job Rach," he responded modestly and stepped back. "It was nice to meet you Elyse. I'm really sorry about the circumstances."

"It's fine..._now_," the teen replied with a quirky smile. "You know, you look better with the mohawk," she added, confirming for him that she had in fact somehow recognized who he was earlier in the room. He wasn't about to question why she hadn't said anything; because, her silence had helped him finish off the case himself.

"Elyse!" Rachel snapped and blushed bright red while Puck just laughed. "Excuse her, she likes looking through my old pictures from high school and watching our performances."

"I'd have to agree with her on the mohawk thing," Puck admitted running a hand over his head. "But eight years in the Corps and now working here; I can't really go around looking like some of the kids I'm trying to either save or, admittedly, put away. So be good kid. Maybe I'll see you around."

Elyse nodded and tugged on her mother's hand, leaving Rachel to roll her eyes and follow along, waving slightly behind her. Puck simply leaned back against the building and felt the tension leave his shoulders for the first time all day. Rachel and her daughter would be fine and, if he had anything to do with it, in one month he would be a much more consistent part of their lives. Something he wished he had been able to be for much longer; enlistment or not, had he known what had happened with Finn he would have been there every step of the way for them in whatever capacity he could have managed.

And heaven help Finn Hudson if he ever crossed paths with Noah Puckerman again. His current job and past service record had put him in high regard with members of the NYPD; he was more then certain that the proverbial "blue wall" would have his back if necessary.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **I don't anticipate this being longer then 3 (_maybe_ 4) parts. The prompt just sort of grabbed me and I had to write it. I'm super into it so I don't anticipate it taking more then a week or so to finish fully.

It's going to focus on Rachel and Puck and their lives now, 14 years after high school, how different those lives are from what they expected they would be and how a relationship that maybe should have happened years earlier can be built in the present. It's going to examine how sometimes "regrets" and "mistakes" can become the most important things in your lives and how to let go of the anger brought on by them.

One thing I'm slightly on the fence about - does anyone really care where Finn is (yes, I know the answer to this; I just don't know if anyone cares) and should we see him?


	2. Part Two

**Disclaimer/Prompt:** See Part One.

* * *

><p>Rachel spent the next month either working nearly non-stop or looking for a teaching position for the fall. Her only saving grace on that front had been her union rep reassuring her that there honestly were no positions for music teachers due to budget cuts and that it had nothing to do with her now expunged file with Social Services.<p>

She survived through her final inspection by Marcy Hanning, carefully avoiding the amused smirk the older woman sent her way when she spotted a photo taken at National's during Rachel's senior year (where Puck had an arm casually thrown around her neck); and the woman assured her she was more then certain this would be the last time they would ever need to see each other.

Elyse was thankfully excited that should would be attending school in Brooklyn with her best friend and had been spending every spare minute with Katie either at the local pool or at their community center where she could take dance and music lessons for free; and if Rachel was cringing over the quality of lessons the girls were probably receiving, she kept that to herself and just tried to correct anything she could at home.

All in all, Rachel was _finally_ starting to settle back into her life.

Which was why she hated the fact that she was currently sitting at her kitchen table staring at her bank statement, a pile of bills (rent, student loans, utilities and credit) and her checkbook while internally debating seeing if there were any teaching jobs available in Ohio. She had sworn fourteen years ago when her father's cut her off for "ruining her life" that she would _never_ go crawling back to that town. She had stubbornly told them that she and Finn were going to be happy and raise their daughter together and prove them wrong. In the back of her mind she could still hear the, "We told you so's" that she received from them after Finn left her and she had called them in a moment of weakness, hoping that they'd be willing to help with money; if not for her then for their granddaughter. She didn't want to even think what their reaction had been to receiving a call from the CPS office had been; though she wouldn't be surprised if they had informed whomever called that they didn't have a daughter.

That was all the more reason Rachel thanked God daily for the Hummel's. Carole had told her daughter in law outright, a few months after the fact once they all realized that not only was Finn gone but he apparently wasn't going to be sending money, that Finn had shamed her and that she was on Rachel's side in the whole mess. Since then the couple had sent what little extra money they could whenever it was available and while it hadn't ever been much, at times, especially in the beginning it had always been enough to at least keep Elyse fed and clothed so Rachel could focus on their rent.

Her cell phone singing Neil Diamond caused her to jump and stare at the phone in shock; despite their conversation outside of Puck's office Rachel hadn't actually expected him to call. He had never been the type of man who wanted "baggage" and a thirteen year old, much as she adored her daughter, was usually classified as such. It was the ringtone that really surprised her though and the answering sound of two giggling girls from the living room that clued her in to who had set the tone up.

"I should have _never _told you that story," Rachel called to her daughter as she grabbed her phone and answered. "Hello?"

"Hey, it's Noah," his voice practically melted over the line and into her ear, sending a shiver down Rachel's spine.

"Noah, huh? Not Puck?" she joked, trying to keep her distance to friends. She needed friends; nothing else. It would be far too easy to let this man in again as he had owned a very large part of her heart since the day he told her he loved her in their senior year, if not longer.

"I'm thirty-two Rach, give me _some_ credit. The only people I've introduced myself as Puck to since boot have been kids I work with in order to break the ice, do you really think I'm going to use it with you of all people?"

"I guess not," she admitted. "I didn't really think you'd call."

"I said I would," he replied simply and she could almost picture his expression. It would be set somewhere between confusion and exasperation. "Besides, Marcy just came in and told me to get off my ass and call you since she closed out your case last week. Apparently you have an 'absolutely adorable' picture of us in your living room."

"I wouldn't call it adorable," Rachel mumbled, slightly embarrassed. "It's that picture from Regional's senior year."

"Ohhhh, I know which one you're talking about," he replied and Rachel could hear his smirk. They had sung the duet that year, something that Finn had hated but the rest of the club had backed after pointing out that they'd never won a damn thing when Finn had sung with Rachel. "So, how've you been?"

"Noah Puckerman making small talk. Color me shocked."

"Yea, yea. I had a long day. I could do with some mindless conversation," he responded, exhaustion seeping into his tone and drawing out Rachel's natural compassion.

"Everything okay?"

"Not really, same shit different day. I had to remove three kids from the care of their crack addicted mother this morning. You can see why we weren't too concerned about your situation."

Rachel blinked in shock and tried for formulate a response but for once found herself speechless.

"Don't worry," he continued. "I really wasn't looking for sympathy. Dinner however?"

"I don't know Noah. I'm really busy and I wanted to spend some time with Elyse tonight," she tried to deflect but the phone was yanked out of her hand before she could finish. "Hey!" she exclaimed to her daughter.

"Puck? Hi, it's Elyse. Did you just ask my Mom out?" she watched her far too precocious daughter begin a conversation with her high school ex-boyfriend and tried fixing her most terrifying "mother" look to dissuade the teenager from continuing. "You did? Good. She needs to get out for something other then work. She's not _that _old yet. Dinner tonight? Wait, lemme grab a pen," Elyse continued and ran down the hall towards her room, taking the cell phone with her and leaving Rachel standing shocked in the middle of the kitchen with Katie.

"_I_ am _her_ mother right?"

"Sometimes I'm not so sure Mrs. H," Katie replied with a bright smile. "Lyse can stay at our place tonight if you've got a date; especially if it's with the hottie with the 'hawk. You really do need to get out more."

"I'm taking dating advice from my thirteen year old daughter and her best friend," Rachel muttered looking up at the ceiling and shaking her head. "And I'm actually taking it seriously."

"Great," she heard her daughter's voice again as she came back down the hallway. "She'll meet you there. And no funny stuff Doc." Rachel could hear Noah's laughter over the line just before her daughter hung up on him and handed Rachel back her cell phone. "Okay, so you're meeting him at Il Palazzo on Mulberry Street at seven tonight. He thought you were _vegan_? What's_ that _all about? Ick, vegetables, gross," she began explaining and when she didn't receive any reaction other then a raised eyebrow, that Rachel was used to using whenever vegetables were mentioned (her years as a parent might have taught her to pick her battles; but this was one she _was_ going to win some day). Elyse just shrugged the look off and continued, "It's 4 o'clock now and it's going to take you about an hour to get into Manhattan. So, go shower!"

Rachel jumped and found herself being hurried down the hall by two thirteen year olds, one of which was chanting, "Mommy's got a date. Mommy's got a date," the entire way down the hall. Right after she was deposited in the bathroom, but before the door was pulled shut unceremoniously in her face, Rachel asked one single question, "How long until you go to college again?"

The answering mischievous but incredibly happy giggles reminded her why she was glad the answer to that question was, "Not for a nice long couple of a years."

A little under two hours later Rachel was putting on her earrings and taking one last look at herself in the mirror of her bedroom; the girls sprawled across her bed behind her. Elyse had picked out a stunning black cocktail dress that came to just below her knees (that Kurt had described as "Hepburnesque" when he gave it to her for her birthday this past March), black stiletto heels and a simple strand of pearls.

"Well, how do I look?" she asked, grabbing for her black clutch.

"Amazing," they both replied through giggles. "Uncle Kurt taught me well. He told me when you were my age you wore, "interesting" clothing," Elyse added looking confused for a second. She then added, "That reminds me, who's Chris Hansen?"

Rachel groaned and covered her face with her hands, mentally reminding herself that she needed to have another conversation with Kurt about what was and what was not appropriate conversation topics to have with a thirteen year old. It was reminders like this that made her realize exactly why her brother-in-law, and best friend, still hadn't settled down himself. As much as she adored him, she still wanted to slap a higher level of maturity into him on a daily basis.

Shaking off her exasperated thoughts, Rachel quickly changed the subject to one that had been bothering her since Elyse had stolen her phone, "Shouldn't you be more freaked out by this Lyse? I mean, I'm going on a date, _no_, nevermind, I'm going to _dinner _with an old _friend_. Isn't this against the rules of the single parent handbook?"

"Mom?" Elyse replied, the dry sarcasm, something else she had picked up from her Uncle, seeping into her tone. "If I'm okay with my _Grandmother_, that would be my sperm donor's mother, constantly asking me if you've finally met someone nice; then I really think I'm okay with you going out with the guy you've been in_ love _with since you were _seventeen_."

Rachel's jaw dropped open at her daughter's knowing look and she immediately reached out and ruffled her hair, "Watch your tone missy. It's complicated. And I did love your father."

"I know you did, for all the good _that_ did you," Elyse muttered, causing Rachel to flinch slightly. She really, truly hated the fact that her beautiful child was so bitter on the subject of Finn. However justified it might be, it wasn't ever something Rachel had ever tried to encourage. "Besides, what's so complicated? You've told me all about it. You two had all these chances that _you_ kept screwing up for Dad. Then when you finally really get together he's all selfless 'cause he doesn't want you giving up your dreams to follow him around from base to base until his time in the Marines was up. Which, if you ask _me_, is _super_ romantic. Then you stupidly go back to Dad instead of fighting Puck on that decision. And now, it's like kismeck, you found each other again. Now if it was some _other_ douchebag I'd probably be throwing a tantrum."

"First of all, _don't _say douchebag. Secondly, it's kismet," Rachel began and then reached over to pull her daughter tight into a hug. "Thirdly, without all of that happening I wouldn't have _you_. And there is _nothing_ I would change about my past for that reason alone," she whispered the last part and pressed a kiss against her daughter's temple smiling when she felt Elyse's arms tighten around her.

"I love you too Mommy."

"Now, you two, next door. Let's go, I have to get a subway. Scoot," she broke the hug and swatted Elyse on her backside ushering them towards the front door.

Rolling her eyes and grabbing a light wrap for her shoulders Rachel followed the giggling duo out of the apartment, locking the door and waving at Karen Ellison as she ushered the girls into her own apartment for the evening.

* * *

><p>Puck found himself waiting outside the restaurant at twenty to seven; it was only a Wednesday so he wasn't concerned about getting a table, but he didn't want to risk Rachel arriving early and backing out. Elyse had warned him on the phone that could be a possibility; apparently Rachel didn't <em>ever <em>date according to her daughter. Now, in most single parent situations, Puck would assume that Elyse just didn't know about her Mother's personal life; but taking into account what he remembered about Rachel, he was going to guess that her daughter might be completely accurate.

All that meant was that tonight needed to be perfect. He was fairly certain Rachel was going to try and steer him straight into the friend zone, and while he was perfectly willing to move at a slower pace for her sake, he wasn't going to be sidelined back into the friendship he had suffered through most of High School.

When he finally saw her approaching from up the block he loosened his shoulders and tried to appear as relaxed as he didn't feel; because if he thought she had been beautiful with tear streaks on her face under fluorescent lighting, then in the fading summer sun dressed all in black she was stunning. He was also very thankful he had taken the time to head over to his apartment in Chelsea to change into a suit before dinner.

"Hey," he greeted her casually, grasping the hand she held out to him and kissing it with a smirk that echoed back to their high school days. "You look amazing."

"Thank you Noah. You look very dapper yourself. I _almost_ forgot how well you clean up," she joked back with a smile and making him think he might like this more mature, apparently relaxed, Rachel even more then he had her younger counterpart. "Shall we head inside?"

He smiled back at her and in a moment of what he thought might be sheer brilliance, he offered her his arm and said simply, "Walk with me." It wasn't until a second later when Rachel threw her head back and laughed before looping her arm through his that he finally fully relaxed and led her into the restaurant.

They were immediately seated at a small table near the window and while Rachel got herself situated he ordered them a bottle of wine and relaxed back into his chair, content to just watch her. The silence only stretched for a minute or two before Rachel finally broke, "Okay what is it?"

"Nothing," he told her honestly. "I've just missed you. You seem so different; but, at the same time, not at all."

"It has been fourteen years Noah," Rachel reminded him with a sad smile. "And, I've been through a lot."

"Yea," he agreed quietly as he straightened up in his seat and reached across the table to take her hand in his again. He let his thumb ghost across her knuckles lightly, reassured by the fact that she didn't wrench her hand away, and thought about how to ask the one question that had been bothering him since he found out about her situation. He finally just blurted it out, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Which part?" she questioned, a cynical twist in her voice he wasn't used to. "You were leaving for boot camp; not that it mattered, Elyse _is _Finn's daughter. This isn't about that is it Noah? Because, we hadn't been together for months by the time I slept with Finn. I waited a hell of a lot longer with him then I did with you," she continued, a quiet steel in her voice that made him think she was getting ready to protect herself as if she anticipated some form of attack from him. Seconds later she seemed to deflate and added so quietly he almost couldn't hear her, "But, then, it was always different with us wasn't it?"

"Always," he quickly reassured her, a soft smile that only she could bring out on his face. "And believe me, I never would think for a second you'd do that to me. But, we were still friends Rach. _Good _friends. That was one of the rules of the break-up remember? You made them after you got done calling me an idiot. I would have helped you out; you didn't have to marry...him."

He saw her visibly deflate even further at his words and wished he could take them back but he needed to know the whole story. The month they had been together had been insane for both of them; a quiet movie night while her father's were away for the weekend had quickly, somehow, turned into him taking her virginity and telling her he'd been in love with her for so long that he didn't even know when it had actually happened. When she had told him she loved him too he knew they would be fine.

"Why'd you break up with me?" she countered his question. "I mean, for real why. Not the BS you told me in high school."

"It wasn't BS," he responded in complete honesty but he also recognized that it was time to discuss this like the adults they were and not the scared teenagers they had been. "You were so proud of me for joining the Marine's both before we got together and then still after that. You loved that I finally had these real plans for my future; but then, you started talking about how after you finished college that you'd love to see other parts of the country for a few years and that Broadway could wait. I _wasn't_ going to let you do that Rachel. And I sure as _hell_ wasn't going to make you wait for me."

"I never got Broadway," she pointed out with a sad smile and a shrug.

"But would you change any of it?" he asked her, knowing the answer and completely accepting that he missed out on the past few years because he knew how much she adored her daughter. And, if he was perfectly honest, he wasn't sure where he'd be himself if things hadn't played out the way they had initially.

"Yes," Rachel replied, shocking the hell out of him. "Hindsight being what it is; I wouldn't have ignored my gut that kept telling me there was a reason I broke up with Finn in Senior Year. I broke up with him _for_ you; then you broke up with me and I _sort_ of understood why. Finn was just supposed to be the rebound, he _wasn't _supposed to get me pregnant and tell me he had planned on following me to New York all along."

"Gone with your gut?" he questioned, subtly waving off the waiter who was heading their way with menus. They needed to get some of this out of the way before they could once again relax into the state of relaxed comfort that they only had with each other.

"I wanted to tell Finn the baby was yours. I thought about telling him I had cheated on him," she admitted quietly, after considering with question for a moment. "I think I was _always_ waiting for the other shoe to drop with Finn. I knew you'd never leave, or at least _you_ wouldn't leave the way _he_ did. I knew you had your commitments, but that was entirely different," she explained and he felt his heart beating faster in his chest; because, he knew if she had asked, he would have said yes without a second thought. "But I also wasn't sure you wouldn't resent me in the long run. I couldn't do that to _you_."

"I wouldn't have ever resented you Rachel," he whispered. "I loved you back then. The first thought I had when I saw Elyse's file was that I _wished_ she _was _mine. I only let you go because I thought Finn could and would be there in a way I wasn't able to. I'm so sorry I was wrong."

"Honestly Noah? I wasn't that shocked when he left us. I keep telling people I was because we were so happy; but, fuck we were miserable. I hated him by the end," she elaborated and shrugged before taking a long swallow from her glass of wine, obviously trying to avoid his eyes.

"You could have called me," he told her, squeezing the hand he still hadn't released in his. "At _any _point, you could have called me and I would have been there as soon as I could. I would have taken you and Elyse with me Rach. You have to believe me."

"I do," she responded, wiping at her eyes discreetly. "That's part of the reason why I didn't call. By the times things started to get really bad, I had heard from Carole that you were in Afghanistan and you were still there when he left us. I didn't want you distracted. If anything had happened to you, I would have lost what little sanity I had left at the time."

The table seemed stifled with a heavy blanket of tension from the revelations their conversation had brought to light. It lasted a few more seconds before Rachel cleared her throat and forced a smile onto her face before speaking again, "Now, let's order some food. This isn't really restaurant conversation."

Noah nodded silently and waved the waiter over, allowing her words to mull over in his head and trying to ignore the pain of the knowledge that he could have had her for the last fourteen years. He could have raised her daughter as his own. She had _wanted_ him to. More then that, she had wanted what he had wanted back then, only she had wanted it for him.

He almost laughed as he remembered what Santana had told him after he had Rachel had the most amicable break-up in Glee Club history, despite how much it had shocked the hell out of the rest of the club, "You two are so completely fucked in the head. When you finally realize just how completely stupid this decision was you should give me a call, 'cause I'm gonna collect a shit load of money on that bet. You have to know Finn's just going to fuck this up right? Please, tell me you know that."

Apparently, he needed to give his favorite Albany County prosecutor a call; which was the thought that planted the beginnings of an idea in his mind. Though, thinking over Rachel's tone as she had discussed Finn and the past, made him think he'd need to tread very lightly before approaching her with it. But what it really boiled down to was that he worked for the New York State Family Courts and the only person he had kept in touch with from High School worked as a prosecutor in the Northern New York U.S. District Court. And, the bonus to all of this was that last time he checked, she was still quite friendly with the Federal Judge she had clerked for after she graduated from Harvard Law School.

Santana really always did love being right.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Sorry this took so much longer then I planned. For those of you that don't follow my LJ - my computer crashed on Friday and I only got it back this evening (fully fixed and with all files in tact thank goodness - which is why I'm able to update tonight). Also, sorry this is a littttle bit shorter then last time, but I liked that ending point. *shrug*

This is looking like it might be longer then the 4 parts I anticipated - I can hear you all complaining from over here - as I'm working out the strucuture and plot and it's sort of screaming at me to make it detailed and elaborate. This chapter was more about introducing the relationship Rachel shares with her daughter and letting Rachel and Noah _start_ to break past, well, the past (and giving you a little hint into more of their very short relationship senior year). My muse is telling me things might heat up a little bit in the next chapter - both between our favorite couple and with Noah's good intentioned plan (but, you know what they say about the road to hell). I can say not to worry about "drama" because I'm not the type of author who writes drama/angst for the sake of writing drama/angst. Everything will happen for a reason, not just cause I want to cause issues for these two - I've put them through enough in their pasts in this story. I actually think I'm being pretty nice to them this time.

Out of curosity's sake, 'cause like Rachel I adore a good metaphor, has anyone picked up on the title's lyrics and their likeness to Finn/Rachel & Puck/Rachel in this story? ...I'll just be over in my corner writing then.


	3. Part Three

**Disclaimer/Prompt: **See Part One.

* * *

><p>Rachel spent the rest of their dinner keeping the conversation on a lighthearted track as they traded "remember when" type stories from high school. She carefully avoided any more serious topics as she didn't want to break down in the middle of a restaurant and if anyone could cause her to do that it would be one Noah Puckerman.<p>

She still couldn't believe how easily she had admitted to him one of her greatest secrets. Half the reason she had waited almost two weeks to tell Finn she was pregnant was that she had honestly weighed the pros and cons of "pulling a Quinn" on him; only, she supposed, in reverse. She had debated it for weeks until she realized that as much as she had wanted to be in Noah's arms for the rest of her life, she refused to saddle him with someone else's child. She had made her choices and she would have to live with them; it was with that acceptance that she had told Finn about their baby.

The fact that his first reaction had been to frown before asking what she was going to do about it probably should have been Rachel's first clue to go running to the Puckerman's. Abigail Puckerman would have taken her in with open arms as they waited out Noah's twelve week boot camp at Parris Island; when he got home they could have decided what to do. She knew at the very least he would have been a supportive friend. She had deferred school for a year in New York; she could have done the same in Lima.

Instead she made Finn keep their secret until they could get married in New York City and almost as soon as they told their families she was disowned by parents who were supposed to love her. Shaking off her morbid thoughts Rachel finished her coffee and watched as Noah signed the receipt and left a tip for the waiter before helping her out of her chair and leading her out of the restaurant and into the humid Manhattan evening.

"Fuck, I've been here for six years and I still forget how hot it gets in the summer," Puck mumbled, loosing his tie and rolling his shoulders.

Rachel laughed a bit and shook her head as they started walking down the sidewalk with no real destination in mind, "It's only the beginning of August Noah. You know it'll be bad until October."

"Yea, I know. Believe me I know. I just bought a place on the sixth floor of a six floor converted brownstone walk up in Chelsea. It's nice but completely lacking anything resembling central air. The place is all mine but they won't let the tenants do any major renovation for historical purposes."

"Wow," Rachel mumbled quietly, imagining just how nice his apartment probably was while thinking of her own small two bedroom in Bayridge. "Annnnyway, I can't believe you've been here this long and we only just saw each other."

"It's kind of a big city Rach," he joked back. "But I also know what you mean. I should have looked you up, let you know I was in town. That's all on me."

"Phone works both ways Noah," she replied, shrugging. "Except no one told me you were in New York."

"Speaking of which; does my Ma even know what you're up to? 'Cause, I've been wondering since I saw you again why she hadn't been yapping my ear off more often all about how I was an idiot for letting you go."

"I'm not sure," Rachel admitted, a shy smile gracing her face at his words. "Honestly, unless Carole told her I doubt she knows. I haven't really kept in touch with too many people in Lima beyond the Hummel's and since Carole's not really keen on letting the world know Finn's an asshole I don't think she's been spreading it around."

"Yea; but, your Dad's and my Mom are constantly seeing each other at Temple."

Rachel smirked a bit at that and chuckled, "If anything my Dad's are telling your mother to keep you away from me before I destroy all your potential as well. They haven't talked to me since I told them Finn and I got married and explained why. Well, no, that's a lie. They rubbed in my face how they were right all along and how stupid I had been when I called to tell them he had left."

"Seriously?"

"Yes; doesn't really remind you of my Dad's does it?" she responded dryly.

"Not at all, what the hell was that all about?"

"Broadway was more their dream," she explained, looping her arm through his and leaning against his shoulder as they turned north on Bowery. "I loved performing, don't get me wrong. But it would have been nice to try other things as well. I found that I really loved teaching when I would give the music classes at the JCC. So, I sort of planned on doing a double major in theatre and music no matter what and possibly down the line do my masters in music education if I didn't immediately get a role; they just didn't know that was part of the plan before I left Ohio."

"I don't understand why that's bad," he responded, looking down at Rachel with an honestly confused expression on his face. "If anything, it was smart. Gave you something to fall back on, just in case something happened."

"Which it did," she pointed out needlessly. "And I really do love teaching. I think, possibly, more then I loved performing," she added a wistful tone creeping into her voice.

"Well, that's good I guess," he responded, trying to force down the unjustified guilt he felt over her losing a job she had obviously loved. "But still, before all that, it seems like you had a solid plan. I don't get their problem with it. You messed up, but you were dealing with it responsibly."

"That's what I tried telling them. Then they cut me off and I had to pick one of the majors because I didn't have time for both. I chose music; Finn had also been accepted to Brooklyn College and decided to attend there because they had a Physical Education major and he thought that would be easier then anything at NYU. We had this whole plan and my father's just didn't want to hear it. My point is that they certainly weren't spreading it around Temple that their only daughter got knocked up by a Gentile, married him in a government building and then proceeded to get dumped a few years later. That would be scandalous. I might have beaten you and Quinn with that one."

"That's us. A couple of badass, good-looking Jews," Noah muttered, laughing when Rachel smirked.

"Well, it is natural," she drawled back, rolling her eyes and slapping his arm. "I've missed you Noah."

"Right back atcha babe," he whispered back and took the chance to kiss the side of her head softly. "So, you are divorced right?"

"I'm pretty sure you've got a whole file on me in your office Noah."

"Hey, I'm trying to be polite here and get the information from you. I'm trying not to remember why he met again."

Rachel smiled brightly at the words and nodded as she replied, "Then yes, in answer to your question, I am divorced. Thankfully New York has no fault, which you should well know Doctor Puckerman being that you work for the Family Courts, so I managed to get it pushed through after about a year and a half on grounds of abandonment. They just had to wait to make sure he didn't pop back up and try and demand custody and I didn't really look very hard. I have no clue if Finn knows we're divorced or not; I literally have no idea where he is. But legally, I'm totally free."

"So wait, he didn't run back to Lima and marry the Queen bitch?"

Rachel snorted a laugh at the comment and shook her head quickly, "You think your mother wouldn't have known that Noah? Be serious for a second."

"Very true. If Finn had married Quinn my Mom would have been at my throat to go and find you and, I quote, 'fix your idiotic mistake and give me Jewish grand-babies.' She really loved you."

"I loved her too," Rachel whispered and then shook her head to get back on track. "Quinn was actually my third call after Kurt and Carole 'cause I'll admit, my thoughts went exactly where yours just did. Except, I didn't know it at the time but a year prior to Finn leaving Quinn had married a man she met in college. She did tell me that if he showed his face anywhere near her she'd kick it for me and tell him to get his ass back to his child or at least start sending me money. Ironically, Quinn's one of the few people I still talk to on occasion as a result." Rachel jerked to a stop as Noah froze in place as she spoke, "What? Noah?"

"You're telling me that not only did he leave you and basically disappear; but he hasn't been paying child support? At all?"

"I thought that was the definition of "disappear" Noah. I really don't know where he is. I don't care to know; Elyse even calls him her sperm donor."

"Shit Rach, I really wish you had called me. I could have helped you out! I thought the fucker was just, you know, gone. There are ways of sending money without the recipient knowing where it was coming from. Shit, even my asshole father used to send my Mom a check every month."

"Noah!" Rachel snapped, turning him to face her. "What's done is done. I don't even want to think about Finn anymore. My kid likes you after only talking to you twice. Believe me, I know other single parents, this is a miracle. She practically shoved me out the door to go to dinner with you."

She watched him closely as a bevy of expressions played over his face and waited for any reaction to hold. She recognized each of the emotions in his eyes even after years of not seeing him - anger, frustration, guilt, sadness and one she had never thought she'd see again, love. It was the presence of that intermingled with the others that made her continue before he could speak, "And I know Finn said something to you at some point after we broke up and somehow you're feeling guilty about him leaving because of it. But you shouldn't. He's the one who left Noah. You had nothing to do with that."

"He told me that he was going to NYU and that he could take care of you better then I could. I thought he was right. So, I let you go."

Rachel blinked in surprise at the words, because that was the one thing she hadn't been expecting. She had been shocked, and hurt, at Puck's lack of reaction when she and Finn had started dating again but had attributed it to the fact that they had promised each other they wouldn't lose their friendship. To hear that Finn had gone to him and somehow convinced him to end things was like being kicked in the stomach. When he had told her at dinner that he had let her go for Finn; she thought he meant it as an analogy of some sort, not a literal statement.

"You broke up with me because Finn convinced you too?" she choked out.

"No," he immediately replied and turned her to face him, squeezing her upper arms tightly to hold her in place. "No. I told you the truth. I didn't want you to lose your dreams to be stuck following me around for eight years. What Finn told me only made it easier. Hell, it made sense! It might have been stupid of me, but it also made it easier. I knew you wouldn't be alone here."

The irony of the last sentence hit her hard and Rachel felt herself almost collapse as Puck pulled her close to him. She immediately relaxed as she wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her forehead over his heart, settling into a long remembered position that felt exactly like coming home, and in the middle of a crowded Manhattan street she cried.

* * *

><p>Puck felt his chest seize as he heard the sobs Rachel was trying to muffle and thought that the whole night had possibly been too much at once. They should have eased into getting to know each other again instead of just dragging the past back up in one dinner.<p>

When her tears didn't appear to be quieting he tightened one arm around her as he raised his other to hail a cab. When the familiar yellow car pulled up to the curb Puck quickly steered Rachel towards the vehicle and climbed in, barking his address at the driver distractedly as he was caught somewhere between amazement at having Rachel literally in his arms again and fear that she was going to tear into him once she was done crying.

Her tears finally stopped on the drive but he didn't speak; instead, he revelled in the silence and stroked her hair while keeping his lips pressed tightly to the top of her head. And as they turned onto West 24th Street before pulling up to his apartment building he finally broke the silence and whispered, "You still smell the same."

When she giggled slightly he felt the pressure in his chest loosen and quickly tossed a few bills at the driver before helping her out of the cab and gesturing grandly at his building.

"Presumptuous aren't you? Taking me home on a first date?" she questioned, raising an eyebrow for a second before breaking out a sly smirk that sent a flash of heat through his body and dispelled whatever remaining tension he had.

"I'm being totally innocent here," Puck informed her. "I don't know your address and I wasn't letting you go home alone that upset."

"Uh-huh," Rachel muttered, rolling her eyes but still following him up the stone steps and through the main doors. "Top floor huh?"

"Unfortunately," Puck replied shrugging. "Let's get climbing."

They climbed the stairs to his floor quietly, with only a few annoyed grumbles from Rachel, and he didn't break their silence as he unlocked the front door of his apartment located at the very top of the stairs. He gently turned her to the right, since upon entering she would only see a closet door.

The apartment had three bedrooms and one bathroom down the hall to the left of that closet; while the large living room was directly to the right. His kitchen and dining room were separated from the living room by a set of oak sliding doors on the far wall at the back of the room.

"You didn't tell me you had the whole top floor of a brownstone Noah," she breathed out and he almost laughed when he realized her gaze was locked on the black baby grand piano he had in the corner next to a, non-working, fireplace and in front of three large nearly floor to ceiling windows overlooking the front of the building.

"I didn't exactly have a ton of bills to pay in the Marines so I saved a lot," he admitted. "They paid for my bachelors. I decided to buy this place about three months ago, moved in last month."

"Well, that makes me feel better about my crap place in Bayridge," she muttered, walking into the living room and laughing slightly. "As does your distinct lack of furniture; at least my place is decorated."

"I have a couch, a tv, an xbox, a piano, a bed in the master bedroom and a kitchen table. I don't really need much else."

"Then why all the space?"

He shrugged at the question, not really wanting to tell her that the three bedroom apartment had been purchased with the idea of possibly starting a family if the right person came along, and scratched the back of his head, "I spent eight years living in tiny base apartments or barracks. Then while I was finishing school I lived in a really shitty studio in China Town. I wanted something that didn't scream transient. Plus the mortgage on this place is cheaper then monthly rent on a place the same size in this neighborhood would be."

"I guess I can understand all of that," she replied, dropping down onto the couch. "Oh good lord, I could never move again."

"Comfy right?"

"Uh-huh," she groaned and left him shifting uncomfortably like he was sixteen again as his pants tightened. He immediately shook that thought off and tried to remind himself that he was going for slow; he was not going to scare her off.

"So," he began, thinking a subject change might be best. "You want a drink? Coffee? Beer? Wine?"

When she asked for a glass of wine he mentally gave himself a high five and slipped his suit jacket off, hung it up in the closet and told her he'd be right back before heading into the kitchen. He came back in and handed her the long stemmed wine glass, settling the bottle of the floor next to him and sat down next to her on the couch.

"Noah Puckerman with wine and real wine glasses like a real live grown-up. I knew you could do it."

"Gee and here I thought it would be the doctorate that would impress you," he responded, picking up on the teasing note in her voice and giving it right back, mentally high fiving himself once again as she giggled.

"That did impress me," she insisted. "I'm very proud of you Noah," she added, sipping her wine and leaning back further into the couch as she kicked off her heels.

"That really does mean a lot Rachel," he admitted, lightly tapping his glass against hers before taking a long swallow of his wine. "So, are you seriously friends with Quinn?"

He smiled at the bright laughter that his question evoked and leaned forward in honest curiosity as to how that had come about.

"Yes, I'm friends with Quinn. It's weird, we never see each other 'cause I send Elyse to visit Burt and Carole once a year by herself, but we talk on the phone at least once a month and email constantly. I think we bonded over the fact that Finn fucked us both up so much over the years. Though, Quinn maintains that I won that contest in the end."

"Understatement," Puck muttered rolling his eyes a bit. "So what's she up to anyway?"

"Quinn is married with two lovely children. Her son is four and her daughter is six," Rachel continued explaining and Puck waited for his instinctive flinch; a little surprised when it didn't come. It wasn't that he wanted Quinn; he just wanted what she had. And he was well aware that the possibility was sitting in front of him on his couch watching him curiously. "You okay?"

"Hmm?"

"I know it has to be hard to hear that she's got kids."

The concern in her voice brought a smile to his face and had him reaching over to brush her hair from her eyes before he explained, "It's not so much that Quinn has kids with someone else. It's just that, she has a family. I just think about Beth sometimes and news like that brings it back."

"Believe me Noah. I understand completely. More so now that I've got Elyse."

"You always did," he told her quietly, pulling her hand up in his and kissing the palm lightly before releasing it. "Okay, continue. I want to hear the gossip."

"Riiiight," Rachel drawled back. "Alright, so, she's an English teacher at McKinley and she replaced Coach Sylvester as Cheerio's coach three years ago once she was back at work after her maternity leave from Bradley."

"Q's the Cheerio's coach? Is she as psychotic as Sue?" he asked Rachel incredulously. "I mean, like, track suits and shit?"

"Noah Puckerman!" Rachel snapped and glared slightly, though he was fairly certain it wasn't seriously. "Quinn might be a very different person then she was in high school; but, do you think for even one second that she'd put on one of those horrendous suits?"

He smirked when she finished speaking because, he was right, she was completely not mad at him.

"Hey, people change over fourteen years," he pointed out needlessly. "I mean, shit, Santana's been a married woman now for almost ten years."

"Really?" Rachel replied, looking truly shocked. "To who? I know it's not Brittany."

"Nope. This really insane defense attorney named Linda. They live up in Albany with their four year old son. Ironically, Santana is an assistant DA with the Northern District Court. So, you can imagine what dinner at their house was like before they made a rule that if work comes home it goes right to their private offices and stays there. I thought they were going to get divorced about five years ago when Lin got stuck defending this guy who apparently embezzled all this money from a retirement community upstate and Santana was prosecuting. It got to the point where I was ready to block both their numbers from my phone for a while. Santana kept telling me that since I was studying to be a psychologist I had to be their freebie marriage councilor."

"Oh I bet you loved every second of that."

"Yea," he responded in a dry tone. "It was amazing. They obviously worked it out and that's when the 'no work at home' rule went into effect. They even keep separate offices in their house."

"I'm a little surprised Santana's not in the private sector."

"She was going to, but then she clerked for this super liberal judge after she graduated from Harvard and she fell in love with, what she refers to as the "light side" of the law, like it's Star Wars or some shit, and now she's intent on putting scum bags behind bars."

"Good for her. And considering you're basically doing the same thing, I don't think you can cast any stones at the Star Wars, light side, 'shit'," Rachel replied, smiling. "You two were the only Gleeks I had no idea about. So, it's nice to hear that she's doing well."

"Yea, she is. On the other side of that coin, she's the only Gleek I had any info on. We sort of both cut ties when we graduated. What are the others up to?"

"Keep in mind all of my info comes from Kurt and Quinn, since they're the ones that are in touch with the others. And even then they only really talk to Mercedes and Sam respectively. It's basically like a Glee phone tree; some people are still friends with others and the info trickles down that way."

"Gotcha. Now hit me with it. What are our singing and dancing brethren up to?"

"Brethren? Just how drunk are you?"

"Not even a little bit. The doctorate expanded my vocabulary and I'm trying to impress you. Is it working?"

"You had me at the grand piano in the living room," she teased back, poking his leg with her foot. "Okay, here's the rundown of what I know. Sam's a physical therapist working at OSU with the Buckeyes. He's married and just had his first child. Mercedes is teaching in the fashion department at the Savannah College of Art and Design and has been trying unsuccessfully to launch her own line since she graduated from the same school with her bachelors. When that didn't work she got her masters and started teaching there. She is not married because according to Kurt, she's too bitter to hold onto a man. Before you ask, if you even care, no I have no idea what their falling out was over...this week. They go back and forth between 'friends' and 'not friends' and I gave up keeping track years ago."

Puck blinked at that and shook his head, motioning for her to continue and keeping all comments to himself for the time being.

"Artie's working for some production company in LA as a film editor. Mike and Tina broke up in college and she's doing the starving artist thing in Portland, Oregon while he is teaching dance and working as a for hire choreographer in Chicago. That's all I know about those three."

"Mike and Tina broke up?" he choked out, actually surprised because they had been engaged when they all graduated high school.

"Yep, Quinn said that Tina freaked out when Mike's mother started trying to plan a wedding during their sophomore year of college and she broke the whole thing off. It apparently got a little insane for a while and from what Quinn told me we should be very thankful that we were far removed from that insanity."

Puck shook his head and then frowned, "Wait, what the hell kind of starving artist is Tina being in Oregon? They have much theatre up there?"

"Oh no, supposedly she "found" herself in college and decided to be a painter. Quinn said she's not very good. Thus, the starving thing."

He barked out a laugh at the comment and once again found himself liking this more relaxed and open Rachel even more. High School Rachel would have found a positive spin on things; this Rachel saw the humor in the situation and was rolling her eyes and laughing right along with him.

"Go on, who else went a little nuts after high school?"

"I'm going to assume Lauren since no one has heard from her."

"She got some wrestling offer and took off to Canada after grad. That's all I know," Puck supplied shrugging. "She didn't want to tell anyone 'cause her parents were pissed that she was blowing off school."

"Huh, okay then. Alright...oh! Ms. Pillsbury finally told Mr. Schue to take a hike about two years after graduation. She married some lawyer in Lima and has two kids. Apparently Mr. Schue helping her get over her OCD sort of screwed himself in the process."

"Well, maybe he should have focused more on his own issues instead of hers," Puck pointed out, draining his wine and grabbing the bottle to refill both of their glasses. "What's he doing?"

"Well, Quinn says he's annoying her daily over helping out with Glee; but I think a better explanation would be, he's doing the exact same thing he was doing when we were at McKinley."

"Poor Quinn," he commiserated and then eyed his wine glass carefully before setting it on the floor and reaching to take Rachel's away. "We're getting drunk. That's bad."

"Probably," she agreed and surrendered the glass without an argument. "New Directions hasn't won a National title since we did Senior Year either. Which is apparently why he's been annoying Quinn."

"He should be annoying you then," Puck responded nudging her with his elbow, which had him noticing the fact that somehow they had wound up pressed side to side on the couch.

"Funny you should mention that," Rachel mumbled and he noticed she was studying her hands, one of which had been entwined with his since he took her glass away.

"Schue got in touch with you?"

"No," she admitted. "But I've been seriously considering getting in touch with him."

"Why?"

"To see if there are any open teaching positions for music at McKinley or one of the elementary or junior high schools. I really need a job Noah," she explained, still avoiding his gaze.

"Well I mean, I guess I could see if I could transfer to Ohio; but if I did I'd probably be in Columbus," he responded instinctively as he thought of Rachel moving back to Ohio and then froze cursing the two bottles of wine at dinner before the one at his apartment. "Did I say that out loud?"

"Yes," Rachel whispered and stared back at him in shock. "Why would you even think about that?"

"You should know why," he replied, staring down into her eyes before lowering his gaze to her lips which were inches away from his. When she licked her lips and he saw her own gaze settle on his mouth all thoughts of slow flew out of his head as he quickly leaned down, brushing their lips together softly until she let out a quiet whimper that had him deepening the kiss.

He gently nudged her lips with his tongue, begging for entrance and wrapped his arms around her as her mouth opened under his. The kiss, which had been intended on his part to be soft quickly became passionate as he tasted Rachel for the first time in years. The flurry of grasping hands and moving bodies almost confused him as he lost himself in the headiness that always overcame him when he was with her.

When they finally pulled away for air, his lips trailed down her throat and he groaned when she gasped out one word into his ear, "Bedroom."

"Are you sure?" he managed to ask, pulling back slightly to meet her eyes.

"Yes," she answered both with both her words and actions as she straddled his waist and wrapped her legs around him. Puck didn't waste any time over thinking the situation and immediately stood up to carry her to his bed.

They could talk more tomorrow.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Like that wasn't inevitable. These two still have some things to get out into the open but I think they're well on their way to realizing that over a decade apart or not, they never really left each other. Also, to clarify, Puck's not like super rich or anything. He was just smart about his money and did what a lot of early-30s professionals do, he bought a house with a mortgage and bills and everything.

Up next - Smut. Puck meets Elyse for real. Santana gets a phone call. And much more. (And no, I didn't forget about Brittany, they just got distracted).

sidebar: I am never one to whine about reviews, but since I got such a small amount vs what I got on the first part it threw me a little bit...do you guys like where this is going? Did I take it in a direction you weren't expecting and disliked? Lemme know 'cause it helps me gauge the temperature of my readers and lets me know where to expand on things.


	4. Part Four

**Disclaimer: **See Part One.

* * *

><p>Rachel gasped in surprise as she felt her body being lowered onto the mattress; she had been so focused on the feelings coursing through her body that she hadn't even registered their arrival to the bedroom. A whimper of protest was drawn from her lips next as she felt his body move away from hers and blindly reached out to him.<p>

"Open your eyes Rach," she heard Noah whisper above her and reluctantly did as he asked. Her breath caught at the sight before her; shining hazel eyes, flushed skin and deep breathing. Noah. "Are you sure about this?"

Part of her wanted to smack him for asking again; another part, the part that had not taken a lover in a few years, was grateful. That didn't mean she was about to change her mind.

"I want you Noah," she replied simply and almost laughed at the shocked look on his face when she reached up, grabbed a handful of his shirt and pulled him down to kiss him again. Her bold move seemed to reassure him and Rachel quickly found herself swept up in a rush of kisses and touches that she never thought she'd receive again.

Even after all these years Noah Puckerman could play her body like she was a guitar that had been made purposefully for his hands. And even now, with her years older and more experienced, he still touched her as carefully as he had the first night they had been together.

She could barely put together anything resembling a coherent thought as Noah's deft fingers slowly stripped her dress from her body, his lips and tongue tasting every inch of skin that was revealed, leaving Rachel a gasping, quivering mass in the middle of his bed.

"Still so beautiful," she heard from somewhere above her and moaned when his fingers slowly ghosted over her upper body, his thumbs pausing briefly to stroke her nipples through the fabric of her bra, before continuing downward and only stopping when they had reached her knees. She almost laughed at the audible groan he released as he spread her knees and pressed them down onto the mattress, pinning them with his hands. "Fuck," he hissed, staring down at her with an expression that made Rachel feel like the only female alive.

"That's the idea, yes," Rachel quipped back, opening her eyes again and cocking one eyebrow in his direction, pulling a deep chuckle and a smirk from him.

Rachel stared up at him and bit her lip at the tempting sight, even still fully dressed. She had almost forgotten how this man could look at you and suddenly the world disappeared. She gave him a moment to stare down at her figure, now clad only in black satin, before slowly sliding her legs out from his hands and gracefully turning her body so she was on her knees in front of him mirroring his position. Neither figure moved, their steady breathing the only sound in the room, as they studied each other's eyes. Without moving her gaze, Rachel silently reached up and began slowly undoing each button on Noah's shirt, working her way down painstakingly slowly until it hung open revealing a body that was, if possible, in even better shape then it had been at seventeen.

She swallowed down a quiet moan, ignoring the soft laugh she could hear from Noah at her reaction, at the sight and softly dragged her fingers up his chest to his shoulders, where she pushed the garment down and off his arms. His belt was next, again without either of them really moving position and certainly not unlocking eyes, followed by the button and zipper on his slacks.

This was a familiar dance for them, one that had not been completed in years and yet had never been forgotten. Rachel had wed another man, bore his child and casually been with a few other men since then, but she had never forgotten this man. She remembered every inch of his body as well as she knew he remembered hers.

She didn't _need_ to look anywhere but those eyes.

"Rach," he croaked out thickly as her hands slid into the waist of his pants and began to tug them slowly over his hips.

"Noah?" she questioned, pausing her actions and cocking her head slightly in confusion.

"Just slow down," he replied, pulling her hands away from his waist before tangling his hands in her hair and kissing her deeply as he gently lowered her back onto the bed, his body following hers to settle between her legs. "We've got all night baby," he added and then froze for a second and seemed to think of something. "Shit._ Do _we have all night? Umm, I'm probably not supposed to be encouraging you to stay away from your kid all night am I?"

Rachel covered her face and shook her head, trying to muffle her sudden giggles at the nervous look that had appeared on his face. Unfortunately it was a losing battle; though, it did remind her of how much fun they used to have in bed together. Finn had always been so insanely serious (which she attributed to his little problem, something that had never gone away) and anyone else she had been with had been quick one night stands to take an edge off. With Noah it had always been sweet kisses, soft caresses and near endless laughter. They simply just enjoyed each other.

"Yes Noah, we have all night. Even if I went home tonight, Elyse would stay at Katie's."

"Oh. That's good," he replied but didn't seem to relax; in fact, if anything it appeared to Rachel that he got tenser.

"Noah? What's wrong?"

"Is she going to hate me if you don't go home tonight? I don't want her to hate me or think I'm only after your pussy...uhh, I mean, fuck. Shit. Umm, I missed you?"

His rambling response quickly had Rachel, once again, in a fit of laughter. This time she simply pulled him down to her and muffled it against his chest for a moment before deciding to distract his nerves in more creative ways. She softly stroked her hands down his back, while placing light kisses on every inch of skin she could reach until she felt him begin to go pliant, once again, above her.

"Elyse is not going to hate you," she assured him, whispering her words against his mouth, before kissing him hard and reaching down to once again attempt to remove his pants. "I promise. Now, please stop thinking about my thirteen year old and start thinking about the fact that I wore brand new underwear for you. Yes. You heard that right. _For_ you."

The answering groan told Rachel that there would be no more distractions for the rest of the evening.

Their bodies moved in a frantic rush of hands to remove their final pieces of clothing, Rachel pushed his pants and boxers down in one shot with her feet while Noah reached around her back and unsnapped her bra before tugging her panties down her legs so quickly that they tore at the seam, leaving them lying there completely naked and panting.

"Well," Rachel breathed out. "It's nice to see some things haven't changed."

"I'll buy you a new pair," he answered simply before capturing his mouth with hers and hooking her leg around his hip. She groaned into his mouth when she felt the hot, blunt, head of his cock brush her lower lips and rocked back against him wantonly. "Fuck Rachel," he breathed out, pulling away and kissing down her neck. "This is gonna be fast this time baby."

She nodded frantically, arching against him and gasping and freezing when his length slid against her bumping into her clit. Her entire body felt like it was on fire as Noah repeated the motion, breathing hard into her neck. She could feel him blindly grasping towards the right of them, obviously not wanting to move any more then he had to, and it took her a second to realize what he was doing. She swiftly reached her own hand out and tangled their fingers together once more, stilling his movements and pulling back to meet his eyes.

"I'm clean, I'm on the pill and I trust you."

"Thank fuck," he gasped out and without further prompting grabbed both her legs, wrapped them around his waist and slid inside her body hard. They both immediately froze and she couldn't help the smile that was pulling at her lips when she heard and felt him repeatedly whispering her name against her neck between soft kisses.

"Noah," she panted after a few seconds and carefully rocked her hips, crying out sharply when he answered with his own drawn out movement. She quickly lost herself in the sensation of their bodies slowly rocking against each other, wrapped around each other in a tangle of limbs, as they traded kisses and breaths.

Somehow what had started out as a frantic, rushed coupling after years of being apart had become a slow, sensual dance as they each tried to push the other to the edge without falling off of it. It was like neither of them wanted this second first time to end.

But end it must and just as Rachel began to feel the muscles in her body tightening, her nails digging into Noah's back instinctively, she felt his movements speed up. His hips began snapping against hers, his breathing heavier and his pupils, eyes locked on hers, further dilated.

Like an unspoken command she felt Noah grind his hips clockwise against hers, brushing her clit perfectly, causing her to tighten her legs around his hips and fall apart underneath him. As she did she felt his hips lock against hers and heard the drawn out moan of her name, muffled against her neck as he finished along with her.

Rachel slowly regained control of her breathing, reveling in the weight of Noah's body pressing down on hers as she felt him softly stroking his hands down her sides in a repeated calming motion. She could feel his heartbeat against her chest and would have sworn in that moment that her own stopped for half a beat.

The whole scene that was playing out was so familiar, so missed, that she literally had to bite her tongue so she didn't breathe out the three words that would 'cause the entire last half hour to completely echo what she was used to with this man.

Because, no matter what her subconscious and her memory wanted her to believe; there was no way she was still in love with Noah Puckerman. Not _this_ Noah Puckerman. At least not yet.

* * *

><p>When his alarm went off the next morning at ten to six Noah groaned and immediately reached out to slap it off only to freeze when he realized his arm wouldn't move. Picking his head up, he turned and looked to the left and grinned.<p>

"God I missed you," he whispered to the sleeping figure who's head was pillowed on his left arm.

Reaching over with his right arm instead Noah shut off the alarm and laid back down, staring at Rachel as she slept, enjoying the sight as he had never had the pleasure of seeing it before. In high school neither one of them had wanted to risk her father's wrath by attempting any sleepovers during their brief relationship. Their dating had already been a touchy subject for the Berry men; not because of his reputation, but instead because they were so close to graduation. Her father's had told him point blank at one point that they very much liked him, liked him better then Finn even, but Rachel was going to college in New York and he wasn't. He hadn't needed any further explanation to understand what the men had been implying.

They didn't want him holding her back or changing her dreams.

He almost scoffed out loud at the thought; because, he had _tried_ to make sure that didn't happen.

"What a waste," he mumbled and brushed Rachel's hair off her face, leaning down to lightly kiss her forehead, before he carefully removed his arm and climbed out of bed.

Noah quietly went about his normal morning routine, he showered, got dressed and started the coffee pot, before waking Rachel with a gentle kiss pressed to her mouth.

"Baby," he whispered, stroking her cheek lightly with his finger. "Wake up Rach."

"Go away," she mumbled into his pillow and had him chuckling. "Too early. Summer."

"Sorry gorgeous, but I've got to get to work. You can stay if you want to sleep more, but I wasn't sure if you wanted to get home before Elyse would."

He laughed as Rachel groaned and flopped over, squinting up at him due to the sunlight streaming into the bedroom, asking, "What time is it? When do you go to work? And don't you have curtains?"

"It's six-thirty. I've got to be in the office before eight. And no, not yet."

"Is that coffee?" she questioned hopefully, once again pulling a fond grin from Noah as he held out the cup he had prepared for her in response. He remembered his girl and damn if his girl didn't need coffee before eight in the morning to function. "You're a God."

"Pretty sure you already told me that, well, screamed that last night when your legs were locked around my head during round three."

"So _that's_ why I feel like I've been hit by a truck," she joked back lightly, not even blushing in the slightest. He had to admit that threw him off a _little_; it was just another reminder of how much she had changed and just made him more sure of his decision to stifle his urge to tell her he loved her last night. He very much liked her and he knew he still very much loved his _memory_ of her; he just wasn't in love with _this_ older, more mature Rachel quite yet. But when she leaned up seconds later and kissed him, he knew he _could _love her and probably quickly.

"Soooo," he trailed off after pulling away from her kiss. "You going to stay for a while or leave? I'm not kicking you out, but I really have to get to the subway or I'll be waiting forever with the morning rush."

"You don't mind if I stay a little while? Getting to Brooklyn in rush hour is going to be a bitch. And I really don't want to be on a commuter train in last night's dress; at least if I wait it won't be as crowded."

Noah laughed loudly at that, he hadn't even considered her 'walk of shame' situation, and replied, "I completely don't mind. Grab a shower too. I'll call you later, okay? We can make plans for this weekend for all three of us."

"All three of us?" Rachel asked him, looking slightly amazed,

"All three of us," he replied nodding his head seriously, then grinning when she smiled brightly and pulled him down by his collar to kiss him deeply, her hand tightening in the fabric of his shirt as though he had any plans of moving away. He really didn't.

After _she_ finally pulled away, Rachel held him still in front of her and quickly straightened his collar and smoothed out his shirt, "Perfect."

"Thanks baby," he responded, kissing her forehead and jumping up before he was tempted to take advantage of her still very naked form. He grabbed his messenger bag, he might have matured but briefcases went against any remaining badass sensibilities, and then paused and turned back to Rachel with a contemplative look.

"Noah?"

"Spare key," he replied as an explanation and wandered over to his nightstand, opening a drawer and fishing around inside before pulling out a small key ring with a single key attached. "Use this to lock up and my mailbox is number 6. It'll just slide through the slats, give it a good push so it's far enough back that it can't be fished out."

"Will do," she assured him. "Now, get out of here before you're late."

"Bye," he whispered once more, leaning over and kissing her hard on the lips, again pushing down the urge to call out a quick, 'love you', like he would have years ago and swiftly made his way out of his apartment.

The high of finally, truly, reconnecting with Rachel again got him through the frustrating commuter rush on the C train all the way down and across town to his office in the Financial District. He didn't even think his good mood had anything, or at least not everything, to do with the fact that it was the first time he had gotten laid in well over six months; something Rachel had pried out of him the night before after that first session, much to his embarrassment. He had stuttered out an explanation about how he had gotten older and more mature and realized he didn't need to be a 'sex shark' anymore. When all she had done was kiss him harder, he had mentally patted himself on the back for being honest in the first place rather then letting her think he had the same mindset towards women that he had at seventeen.

Because back then, as much as he had loved her and as different as he had been _with_ her, he had still very much gone back to being Puck when they broke up. It had been a defense mechanism to her reignited relationship with Finn more then anything else at the time; and once he joined the Marine Corps and quickly realized that his behavior had to change, he had embraced the new Noah fully.

His sister had joked once that he had sexed himself out as a teenager and was only now, in adulthood, behaving the way most seventeen year old boys actually did around women. When he had looked at her in total confusion she had simply sighed and replied, "Wanting but not _expecting _sex all the time you idiot. You tend to do shit in reverse."

Once he had shaken his thoughts of the night before off Noah checked his phone for messages, glanced at his (thankfully) empty inbox and skimmed through his email. The day before had been slightly insane and once he had the date with Rachel set he had done all he could to finish up as many reports as possible; mostly because he hadn't wanted to be immediately brought down off any potential 'high' immediately upon walking into his office.

And while he was thankful there was nothing immediate waiting on him upon walking in; because, he knew he would be bringing himself down within the next few minutes, and he didn't need any work overwhelm him more, as he cued up an email to send to Santana. It was only a few lines and it didn't give too much information, but he knew the subsequent phone call that he would probably recieve around one o'clock, when Santana usually took her lunch, would bring back all the ire he had been feeling on and off since Rachel and Elyse's files had crossed his desk a month earlier.

**San,**

**Call me today when you get a chance and have time to talk. It's important. Remember that bet you told me you'd win money on in high school? About Finn fucking up? Well, I ran into Rachel. I really need you to do something for me.**

**Puck**

Now he just had to wait.

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><p><strong>AN:** First off, (from what I've heard in 'updates' to her stories) apparently acaudill0068, the writer who posted the prompt that this fic grew from, was in a very massive car accident last week sometime and is still in the hospital. My thoughts and prayers are with her and her family for her swift return to good health.

Second, this chapter wound up a litttttle different then I initially intended. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. For some reason, even though I know I can write it, these two didn't want to have quick and dirty sex - silly things like feelings got in the way - so it's not so much "smut" but, hey, they got down to it. So, yea.

Third, my friend read this and then asked, "Why's he suddenly Noah in narration; he was Puck in the other chapters." He'll be Noah from now on, he was "Puck" before this chapter because they hadn't fully reconnected, as much as he was always "Noah" to Rachel, she still didn't really know him at all anymore. Now she does. Simple as that. Or at least it made sense in my brain.

Next time - Noah and Santana have a conversation, Rachel and Noah spend some more time together and get to know each other more, things progress.


	5. Part Five

**Disclaimer: **See Part One

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><p>It was a little after ten when Rachel unlocked her apartment door and stepped inside, kicking her heels off in the process, as she distractedly flipped through the newspaper she had picked up at the stand down the block.<p>

"Look at you sneaking in way past curfew," Elyse's voice came from the door behind her and Rachel could feel her own cheeks heat up in a blush at the teasing tone in her daughter's voice.

"Cheeky," Rachel jibbed back and walked the rest of the way inside, knowing her daughter would follow and lock up behind them. "It's Thursday, shouldn't you be at the pool?"

"Katie's got a dentist appointment in an hour. I actually figured you were home already."

Rachel froze, because the teasing tone had left Elyse's voice, and glanced up to study the young teenager. She didn't look upset; but there was a slight bit of confusion on her face that made Rachel think Noah might have been correct in questioning whether they had all night or not.

"Sit down Lyse," she finally said and patted a kitchen chair as she set about making them tea. Once they were both seated with full mugs Rachel took a deep breath and jumped into the deep end, "Do you have any questions for me?"

"Not really," Elyse replied, but the pursing of her lips and slight furrow between her eyebrows said differently.

"Sweetie, you can ask me anything. I promise I won't get mad. If me, well, dating, is an issue for you then you can let me know."

"Oh no," her daughter was quick to reply, shaking her head in the negative. "That's so not the problem Mom. You totally deserve a social life."

"Well, I'm glad I have your approval," Rachel responded, laughing lightly at how adamant the child had been. "Then what's wrong?" she added, getting serious again.

"I guess I'm just worried about what's going to happen now."

Rachel frowned at the question and tried to figure out what her daughter meant; after a few seconds she decided to just ask for a clarification, "What do you mean, what's going to happen now? Nothing's going to change. You always come first," she was quick to assure her daughter, thinking that might be the issue.

"This sounds stupid," Elyse mumbled and Rachel grabbed her hand, squeezing it.

"Nothing you ask me will ever be stupid. You can't get knowledge without asking questions."

"Yea, but this is like...stupid."

"Just ask me."

"Okay, Uncle Kurt called me last night on my cell phone and I told him you were out with Puck."

"Oh Lord," Rachel muttered, groaning. "Also, don't call him Puck."

"He told me to. When we were at his work."

"Oh, hmm, okay, well, we'll talk to him about that 'cause I think that was a different situation," Rachel rambled, trying to avoid the fact that Kurt now knew she had seen Noah.

"Stop changing the subject Mom."

"Sorry," Rachel muttered. "You were saying?"

"Yea, so, I told Uncle Kurt you had a date and after he got over his squealing over the 'date' part; he seemed a little, well, pissed. He said that Puck didn't deserve you and that he wasn't worth your time and effort. He basically said that Puck was just going to, umm, have sex with you and disappear. Only, he was a little more, uhh, colorful then that but I don't relish eating soap so I won't use his exact words."

Rachel's jaw dropped for a few reasons; the most prominent being the gall her best friend had with being so candid with his thirteen year old niece.

"First of all, thank you for choosing to use a more adult vocabulary then your thirty-two year old uncle," Rachel began, gearing up for a rant and preparing herself to tear a strip off of Kurt as soon as she had the energy. "Secondly, he had no right to speak to you on the subject at all, let alone speak that way to you about another adult, especially seeing as he hasn't heard from or of Noah since our high school graduation."

"I tried telling him that Puck was, like, a doctor. But he just kept ranting about you wasting your time on a washed up Lima Loser."

Rachel took a deep breath and exhaled as she tried to keep her blood pressure at a healthy level and remind herself that she really did love Kurt. In the past, he had been one of the only reasons she had survived the first few years post-Finn (_and _pre-Finn) leaving; but some days she just wanted to smack him around and tell him to get out of their lives. Mostly because he was seemingly convinced she needed him to try and control her life - if it wasn't pressuring her to audition for something (because he refused to believe she liked teaching) it was setting her up with men who made Finn look charming (men who went running the second they heard she had a young daughter).

"I'll talk to your Uncle," Rachel replied. "Noah is not a Lima Loser. Noah is a good man, with a good job, who I care about very much."

"I figured that one out on my own Mom."

"Then what's the problem?"

"I don't want Uncle Kurt to upset you or ruin this," Elyse whispered looking far too troubled for her young age and nearly breaking Rachel's heart. "I mean, even _Grandma_ has said that she hoped you'd run into Puck again."

"You put it out of your mind this instant Elyse Marie Hudson," Rachel told her seriously. "I know sometimes I treat you as too much of an adult and that's on me. But in this case, I don't want you to worry about it. I can more then handle your uncle."

She waited until Elyse nodded, still looking slightly worried, and squeezed her daughter's hand again. They sat in silence for a few more seconds until Elyse's face got her more typical teasing grin on it as she asked, "So, did you have fun last night?"

With that question Rachel relaxed, slightly, and delved into a very much PG rated gossip session about her date.

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><p>Noah was in the middle of reading through a case file for a session he had later that day when his cell phone rang; he glanced at the display quickly and felt all his nerves take center stage in his stomach when he saw Santana's name.<p>

"Fuck," he muttered; mostly because it was only eleven-thirty. Shaking what he could off he answered his phone with a gruff, "Hey Satan."

"Hey," she replied, sounding slightly off. "Explain. Now."

Noah didn't even try to pretend like he didn't know exactly what she meant, "I ran into Rachel because of some psychotic neighbor of hers calling CPS. Found out a whole bunch of shit; basically, Rach was pregnant when we graduated. She married Finn in New York, he left her and their daughter when the kid was five and she hasn't heard a word from him since. Including child support."

"Well, fuck," Santana replied. "That explains a lot."

"Huh? You sound less shocked then I expected."

"No, no, I'm really surprised...but, like I said, it explains a lot. What I'm shocked about is that this is Rachel Berry we're talking about. Knocked up and married? Shocked as hell. The _level _of doucheyness Finn reached? Really really shocked. When I said he was going to fuck up I didn't think it would be to quite such an _epic_ level."

"Are you sure you went to Harvard?"

"Very funny. Now what did you want from me? And better question, did you fuck her yet?"

"Your priorities astound me sometimes Santana," Noah snapped back, rolling his eyes as he relaxed back into his desk chair in his small office. "I'm only answering this because I know you won't leave me alone until I do so, yes, I slept with Rachel."

"Are you going to lock that shit down finally?"

Noah pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at it incredulously; the woman was married, with a child and had a fast track career straight into the Attorney General's office and some days he swore she was still a fifteen year old cheerleader.

"Puck?"

"Focus San. I need you to find Finn and then I want to squeeze every dime he has out of him in back child support payments."

"Well, one of those is done already. Thus the whole "explains alot" comment."

"Huh?"

"I know where Finn is. Which is mostly why I'm so fucking shocked about the whole ex-wife and kid thing."

"Explain," Noah nearly growled into the phone.

"Okay, so, remember when Linda and I went to Vegas two years ago?"

"Yes?"

"We ran into Brittany. She's a dancer, and before you make any cracks Puckerman I mean a real principal dancer in a legitimate show, on the Strip."

"Not seeing what this has to do with anything?"

"She's also married to someone we went to High School with," Santana dead panned and Noah could feel his eyes widen. "Your silence tells me you put that together quickly."

"You're fucking kidding me. Brittany and Finn are married? But Rachel knows what Britt is doing...or at least knows she isn't involved with you. And why the hell didn't you tell me this shit when you found it out?"

"Here's where the extreme level of doucheyness comes into play," Santana continued. "They both pretty much admitted that they hadn't spoken to anyone in years, they're sort of living in this little Las Vegas bubble, and we got to discussing everyone. Britt brought up Rachel and mentioned that she had seen her in New York two years before that. Britt hadn't run into Finn yet at that point and I guess Rachel didn't bring him up; so all Rachel knew was that Britt was single and living in Vegas and all Rachel told Britt was that she was teaching music. As for why I didn't tell you? Wellll, Finn mentioned something about hearing that Rachel had a kid. He didn't say how old or, ya know, that he was the kid's father, and I didn't really feel like sending you into that kind of drama. I'm sorry."

"So, Britt has no idea," Noah mumbled, trying to ignore the rage that was building at hearing about Finn's blatant lie.

"Absolutely none. She might not be the brightest but she knows right from wrong. I'm a little surprised she hadn't questioned him about Rachel more then that when she first ran into him. She's not as dumb as people think and she knew that they went to New York together initially."

"Yea," he replied with an deep exhale. "Unless she did and he just lied to her face too. Well, this is easier then I expected. What's the asshole up to these days?"

"Two years ago he was working construction."

"Any kids?"

"Linda and I mentioned Alex and Britt seemed excited but Finn shut that down fast and said they didn't want kids. It seemed weird to me at the time, but now it makes sense. He had my lawyer spidey sense all tingling and I didn't know why."

"Do you think they're still in Vegas?"

"Probably. It's only been two years and Brittany had a really decent contract with the show she was doing."

"Any way we can ruin him without destroying Brittany's life?" Santana was very quiet on the other end of the phone after his question and after a few seconds he tried prodding her, "San?"

"Does Rachel want you doing this?" she finally asked, seemingly avoiding his first question.

"I haven't spoken with her about it yet," he admitted. "I just wanted to try and get some info first. I didn't expect it to be so damn easy. Besides, what she wants and what she deserves are two entirely different things."

"Yea, I agree," she mumbled. "Alright, listen, you talk to Rachel about it. Tell her I'm pretty certain I can get in touch with Finn and we can possibly do this without involving the courts; if we do need to involve the courts I'm sure Linda will be willing to represent her if necessary since I'm sort of tied to my district. See what she wants to do and then get back to me. Even if they've moved, Britt gave me their address and it's as easy as getting a forwarding address."

"Sounds good," Noah replied, nodding to himself. "But do you really think this can be handled outside of court?"

"Of course not," she admitted. "If it could then he would have been up front about a divorce and have been paying child support this whole time. Though, you never know, if Britt hears about this she just might make him pay."

Noah chuckled at that comment because if Brittany hadn't changed since high school then he was certain Santana was correct.

"One more thing Puck."

"Yea?"

"Don't push her. If you want this relationship to go anywhere, you need to remember that you're her high school boyfriend who she is maybe starting things up with again. You just also happen to work in the Family Courts. You're not her husband, father or even boyfriend yet. You're not her daughter's father. This needs to be _her _decision."

"I know. You're right," he agreed. "I just want to have the information for Rachel."

"You just want the information so you can flay Finn alive any way possible."

"That too."

"Alright Puckerman, I've got court in a half hour. Give me a call soon and I'll grab Lin and Alex and drive down to see you, Rachel and the kid. I didn't realize how much I missed the Midget until just now."

"I love you too Santana."

"I know," his best friend joked back and hung up the phone, leaving him to toss his cell on his desk and try to process the overload of information he had just gotten and whether or not he should bring it up to Rachel right away. Part of him wanted to bring it up, get it over with and work on _them_...and another part of him wanted to wait until he was sure he had her for himself before launching them into the insanity that could potentially follow a reveal of Finn's whereabouts.

By six that evening as he was locking up his office he still hadn't come to a decision about anything except that a trip to Six Flags that weekend sounded like a perfect 'family style' date. He might have shelved Puck away years earlier; but he wasn't above pulling him out when it came to a little bribery in getting the daughter of the woman he was pretty sure he was still in love with to like him.

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><p><strong>AN:** Massive apologies on disappearing. I had some major, major family issues crop up in the last month or so that had to be dealt with and took priority over anything involving fanfic. I'm pretty sure I'm back in the swing of things now (hopefully) and cranked this out as soon as I got a chance. Thanks so much for your patience.

Thoughts on the chapter always appreciated.


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